POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 29, 2009) – After sweeping through the first three matches of the Seven Sisters Championship with relative ease, the Vassar College and Wellesley College women's tennis teams faced off in a dramatic title match for the eighth straight year. Yet again Wellesley claimed the title, its fourth straight, after edging Vassar 3-2 despite facing an early 2-0 deficit on Sunday at Walker Field House.

Wellesley earned the title with 18 total team points, followed by Vassar's 17 points, with Mount Holyoke College (five points) rounding out the top three. Bryn Mawr College finished in fourth with five points, and Smith College placed fifth with four points.

“I think we competed hard and we created a lot of momentum early in the match but Wellesley stormed back,” said head coach Kathy Campbell. “To our disappointment and Wellesley's credit, it all came down to a couple points. I couldn't be prouder of our team though, they played extremely hard all weekend and just fell short in a close match.”

Vassar picked up two quick wins to start the match, with wins from No. 1 singles Nicole Pontee (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) and No. 3 singles Alexis Jacobson (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan), as both Pontee and Jacobson defended their flight titles from last season.

"Nicole and Alexis played particularly well today," said Campbell. "They were extremely focused as they defended their titles."

Jacobson, a senior had an impressive showing in her final Seven Sisters Championship, dropping just one game in four matches all weekend. Playing against a strong opponent in Wellesley's Marie Watanabe (Houston, TX), Pontee played a smart match to earn her win.

“They were playing quite even in the first set but then Nicole did a fantastic job of making a strategic change and playing away from Marie's forehand, which is her huge weapon,” explained Campbell. “Without giving up any of her offense, Nicole was able to shift the ball to the other side of the court to make Marie use her backhand. Nicole's timing was impeccable because Marie hits such a deep ball, but with her adjustment, Nicole really dominated, winning 6-2, 6-3.”

However, the final three matches would not be decided so quickly. The No. 2 singles match, between Wellesley's Grace Cheng (Columbia, MD/River Hill) and Vassar's Jennifer Beckerman (Santa Barbara, CA/Santa Barbara) put the two freshmen to the test. With Cheng serving for the match at 5-4, Beckerman battled back to send the set to a tiebreaker. Cheng prevailed, 7-6 (7-4), and then earned a 6-0 win in the second set to win the match.

In doubles play, the No. 2 Wellesley team of Meghan Stubblebine (Cumming, GA/Bishop Canevin) and Katie Ching (Kaneohe, HI/Honolulu Waldord School) fought off a feisty Vassar duo of Jamison Steele (Newport Beach, CA/Corona del Mar) and Nicole Block (Seaford, NY/Seaford) winning a second set tiebreak to earn the 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory. Wellesley's win at No. 2 doubles evened the match score 2-2, making the No. 1 doubles match the decisive match.

In fitting fashion, that decisive match went to three sets, as the Wellesley team of Mona Siddique (Chevy Chase, MD/Sidwell Friends School) and Jacqueline Shen (Calgary, Alberta/Queen Elizabeth) recovered from a first set loss to Joy Backer (Del Mar, CA/Torrey Pines) and Krista Romita (Baltimore, MD/Roland Park Country Day) to notch a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win as Wellesley took home its 12th overall title.

In other Seven Sisters action on Sunday, Mount Holyoke earned its second close win of the weekend, with a 3-2 victory over Smith, and Bryn Mawr also edged Smith, 3-2. Vassar and Wellesley earned 5-0 sweeps in their first matches of the day, with Vassar defeating Bryn Mawr, and Wellesley downing Mt. Holyoke.

Vassar is now 11-4 on the season and will play a week from Sunday, on April 5 at Hunter College at 1:00 p.m.

Flight Champions/All Seven Sisters Team
No. 1 Singles: Nicole Pontee, Vassar College
No. 2 Singles: Grace Chenge, Wellesley College
No. 3 Singles: Alexis Jacobson, Vassar College
No. 1 Doubles: Mona Siddique and Jacqueline Shen, Wellesley College
No. 2 Doubles: Meghan Stubblebine and Katie Ching, Wellesley College

Wellesley 3, Vassar 2
Singles
1. Nicole Pontee (VC) def. Marie Watanabe (WC), 6-2, 6-3
2. Grace Cheng (WC) def. Jennifer Beckerman (VC), 7-6 (7-4), 6-0
3. Aleixis Jacobson (VC) def. Nathalie Herman (WC), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Mona Siddique/Jacqueline Shen (WC) def. Joy Backer/Krista Romita (VC), 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
2. Meghan Stubblebine/Katie Ching (WC) def. Jamie Steele/Nicole Block (VC), 6-5, 7-6 (7-4)

Bryn Mawr 3, Smith 2
Singles
1. Karen Ginsburg (BMC) def. Clair Oblamski (SC), 7-5, 7-5
2. Anna Perrochi (BMC) def. Margaret Steiner (SC), 6-4, 6-1
3. Melanie Shafer (BMC) def. Robyn Cyr (SC), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Jaimi Inskeep/Gianna Teague (SC) def. Mimi Nguyen/Leah Raj (BMC), 6-3, 6-3
2. Allyson Hawkins/Mindy Chu (SC) def. EB VerHoerve/Priscilla Roney (BMC), 6-2, 6-2

Wellesley 5, Mt. Holyoke 0
Singles
1. Marie Watanabe (WC) def. Ashley Fallon (MHC), 6-2, 6-1
2. Grace Cheng (WC) def. Elise Marifan (MHC), 6-3, 6-1
3. Nathalie Herman (WC) def. Heather Richardson (MHC), 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Mona Siddique/Jacqueline Shen (WC) def. Natalie Hsiang/Elisa Frankel (MHC), 6-0, 6-0
2. Meghan Stobblebine/Katie Ching (WC) def. Kara Matsuzawa/Sarah Moore (MHC), 6-1, 6-2

Vassar 5, Bryn Mawr 0
Singles
1. Nicole Pontee (VC) def. Karen Ginsburg (BMC), 6-0, 6-2
2. Jennifer Beckerman (VC) def. Anna Perrochi (BMC), 6-0, 6-0
3. Alexis Jacobson (VC) def. Melanie Shafer (BMC), 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. Joy Backer/Krista Romita (VC) def. Mimi Nguyen/Leah Raj (BMC), 6-0, 6-0
2. Jamie Steele/Nicole Block (VC) def. EB VerHoerve/Priscilla Roney (BMC), 6-1, 6-1

Mt. Holyoke 3, Smith 2
Singles
1. Ashley Fallon (MHC) def. Clair Oblamski (SC), 6-2, 6-4
2. Margaret Steiner (SC) def. Elise Marifan (MHC), 6-3, 6-4
3. Heather Richardson (MHC) def. Robyn Cyr (SC), 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
1. Natalie Hsiang/Elisa Frankel (MHC) def. Jaimi Inskeep/Gianna Teague (SC), 6-3, 6-4
2. Allyson Hawkins/Mindy Chu (SC) def. Kara Matsuzawa/Sarah Moore (SC), 6-3, 6-3

Seven Sisters Championship Format
Each team will enter three singles and two doubles teams with each athlete participating in just one event. The tournament will follow a round-robin format in flights. All matches will be two out of three sets with a 12-point tiebreak used at six all.
Championship Scoring: One point will be awarded to player and team for each matchwon. The highest score determines the team and flight champions.
In case of a tie, winners will be determined by:
1. Head-to-head winner.
2. Ties among more than two teams or flights will be determined by the highest winning percentage among those that are tied.